U.S. stock index futures signal lower Wall St open

LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed
to a weaker open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the
S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100
falling 0.1 to 0.3 percent.

* U.S. President Barack Obama met with Republican Speaker of
the House of Representatives John Boehner on Sunday at the White
House to negotiate ways to avoid the "fiscal cliff," according
to White House officials and a congressional aide.

* American International Group Inc is to sell nearly
all of ILFC, the world's second-largest airplane
leasing business, to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8
billion, giving the fastest growing aviation market easier and
cheaper access to planes.

* The Conference Board releases its employment trend index
for November at 1500 GMT. In the previous report, the index read
108.2.

* Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines will
agree a partnership on transatlantic flights once the U.S.
carrier seals a deal to buy Singapore Airlines' 49
percent stake in the British airline, a source close to the UK
carrier said.

* Ingersoll-Rand Plc is expected to announce as soon
as Monday it will spin off its security division, two people
familiar with the matter said, as the industrial conglomerate
cedes to pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz to unlock
more shareholder value.

* Opel, the ailing European brand belonging to General Motor
, said it plans to end vehicle production in 2016 at its
acutely endangered Bochum plant in Germany, the company said on
Monday.

* China's exports growth slowed sharply to a much lower than
expected 2.9 percent in November, underscoring the global
headwinds dragging on an economy showing otherwise solid signs
of a pick up in domestic activity.

* European shares dropped on Monday, with the FTSEurofirst
300 index falling 0.3 percent to retreat from an
18-month high hit last week, on renewed worries over Italy's
finances after mounting political uncertainty.

* Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's imminent resignation
has set off campaigning for an election expected in February,
with financial markets on edge at the prospect of a return to an
old-style Italian political crisis.

* The Dow and the S&P 500 advanced modestly on Friday,
though another sell-off in Apple depressed technology shares and
kept the Nasdaq negative, overshadowing a sharply
better-than-expected jobs report.